For the 24th consecutive year, Southern College of Optometry has a 0% cohort default rate among its graduates. According to fiscal year 2017 figures released by the Federal Department of Education, the average national cohort default rate is 9.7%, down from 10.1% the year before. The cohort rate is the percentage of a school’s borrowers who default on their student loans.
“At a time when student loan debt is at an all-time high and pandemic-related job insecurity is hitting all sectors, seeing our students continually succeed in their careers via their ability to repay their loans is encouraging,” said Dr. Lewis Reich, president of SCO. “It’s a testament to the value of their optometry degrees, but – more specifically – to the value of that degree from SCO. This being the 24th year without default, it’s also indicative of their professional strength regardless of the national economic landscape.”
SCO was the only Memphis college, one of just two colleges in Tennessee, and one of only a handful of standalone optometry colleges nationwide with a 0% default rate. The other Tennessee college with 0% default is the Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia in Madison.